The positive English tone that built throughout the
opening forty was set by Jonny May who skinned Conrad Smith and Israel Dagg on
the outside with just 4 minutes on the clock. There are few wingers that have
done that in the world and even fewer that have made it look so effortless. Needless to say Twickenham rocked and as Swing Low boomed around the stands we all dared to wonder whether this was going to be the day? Thereafter
England took New Zealand on in every single facet and in my eyes they did a
grand job at it. George Kruis was thrown to the lions on 20 minutes and he
stepped up like a 30 capper, totally un-phased by the fact that he had never
played in white of England before and he had XV All Blacks against him. Indeed
throughout the entire game the English pack fronted up and laid their marker
down from Marler to Vunipola and all the way between, tanks were emptied and physicality
imparted. This was one of the facts that we as fans and indeed Stuart and
Graham Rowntree as coaches should take great heart from, for it was delivered
without Alex Corbisiero, Dan Cole and Tom Youngs in the front three.
Turning
points in matches creep up on you and once momentum swings it often requires
super human effort to wrestle it back and today it was simply too much for
England to do. Certainly there will be some questions
asked regarding our kicking game, in particular the work of Care and Farrell in the second forty and perhaps we will see a different
back line against the South Africans for England’s inability to gain the right territory was one of the swinging and ultimately deciding factors in this test match. New Zealand stepped it up when they needed to at the point when they were under the most pressure, down to 14 men, and that is what makes them so deadly. The All Black inner belief is outstanding and it is at a level that no other side has in the world. Today their 1,029 Test Caps showed their worth for when you have men that have been in those 'sticky' situations, more than once before and successfully navigated out of it then it makes the world of difference. Richie McCaw didn't end the day as the most popular man with the Twickenham crowd however he wasn't there to be liked he was there to win a Test match, and win it he did. McCaw may be in his mid thirties but he is fitter than ever and with a 90% win ratio as Captain he himself is a formidable force let alone when you put him with 14 other world class players.
In the immediate
aftermath of the final whistle I read online many reactions to the
game and a lot of strong words being thrown out there regarding England’s ‘inability’
and England’s ‘awful game management' however personally I’m not going to lay into them quite so heavily. Obviously
the second forty minutes were not how England want to play... yes they lacked
territory, yes their shape went and yes they, unforgivably, didn’t take advantage of an extra
man however as they have done in the past they will learn and improve from this. I like every
single England fan at Twickenham and every single person watching at home
wanted England to win and felt bitterly disappointed when they didn't however I am firmly in the camp with Stuart Lancaster who said this following the final whistle;
“There are enough positives
and enough cohesion to draw from that performance that we can improve for next
week. Of course you want to win every game to stay firmly on track, but we are
not going to deviate from the path that we are on because we believe in the players
that we’ve got, the coaches and what we are building. We’ll keep our
confidence and the direction in which we are going.”
At the end of the day it comes down to the words that Stuart followed that comments with; “in test rugby it doesn’t matter if it is the first minute or the
eightieth minute it is taking all of your moments when you get them, and we
didn’t quite manage that today”.
A smarting South African side are next up, they are a side that will be hurting from their 15-29 loss in Dublin and one that just beat the All Blacks. However as we all know England never shy away from a challenge and I guarantee that there won’t be a minute of rugby that is played like the second half today. Stay with England, for 40 minutes of uncharacteristically slacking rugby does not make them a bad side that should start from scratch once again instead, after just one week together, the positives must be focused on and the reaction will be seen in just 7 days time.
See all the Out On The Full Photos from Twickenham here
A smarting South African side are next up, they are a side that will be hurting from their 15-29 loss in Dublin and one that just beat the All Blacks. However as we all know England never shy away from a challenge and I guarantee that there won’t be a minute of rugby that is played like the second half today. Stay with England, for 40 minutes of uncharacteristically slacking rugby does not make them a bad side that should start from scratch once again instead, after just one week together, the positives must be focused on and the reaction will be seen in just 7 days time.
